It’s been a subdued first week at the Katz Family Culinary School and Home for Transient Mammals. As is traditional, everyone came home from the shelter with the sniffles. Nothing serious, but enough that lying about has been the main order of the day.

Not that they can’t be lively (and hard to photograph) when they want to.

It continues to be difficult to get a group shot of this class, largely because mom Olympia loves people so much that she gets up and walks over whenever someone enters the room, no matter how many kittens she disturbs in the process. She is not Mom of the Year.

Pangur Ban is definitely mama’s little girl. Were they human, they’d be one of those mother-daughter duos who wear matching outfits.

Jersey is shy. But I can hardly blame her, since I’m constantly grabbing her and putting medicine in her mouth. She’ll come around.

April, on the other hand, loves to be held.

Everyone is gaining weight well and I expect the class of 2015 to graduate on schedule in two to three weeks.

2015 is all set to be a good year for cats. Khoshekh is out of his cast and greatly enjoying his newfound access to the entire house (particularly the couch). His favorite toy is the cat track and he can often be found curled up inside it, keeping an eye on the ball in case it tries anything. And best of all, there’s an adopter who is planning to come get him at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Honey got snapped up in no time at all. Of course she did, with that cute face!

That leaves us with just one foster who hasn’t been spoken for: Tawny, our long-term resident. But she did have fun posing in a festive holiday collar.

It’s been an exciting week here at the Katz Culinary School and Home for Transient Mammals. One of the local residents, Duke, has been adopted by a loving, wonderful family. But there’s no rest for the weary: With the Christmas season has come a rash of animals in need. Without further ado, let’s meet the new arrivals.

Honey is a nine-month-old girl who was abandoned in a shopping cart. She is friendly, healthy, and cute as a button. She just arrived yesterday, but she’s already making herself at home and availing herself of the house’s various convenient windowsills. We just need to work on the “stay off the desk” rule.

She is spayed and up to date on her shots, so she is ready to be adopted immediately!

This nine-month-old boy is not having a very merry Christmas, as you can see. His owner brought him to the vet claiming that he has never been outdoors and that one morning his leg was just inexplicably broken. Yeah, right.

The story only gets weirder: They paid for his $3000 surgery and then abandoned him. Luckily, Kitten Rescue was there to be his Christmas miracle.

Despite his infirmity, he’s a good-natured, affectionate boy who never stops purring. He is expected to make a full recovery and will probably be available for adoption in six weeks to two months.

Upon learning that he needed to be confined to the bathroom, Jordan immediately dubbed him Khoshekh.

If you are interested in either of these sweet cats, contact Kitten Rescue.

Aside from them being bright and shiny and a great chance to get in touch with your inner pyromaniac, I mean.

It’s simple: I like them because they are made of gunpowder and, most of the time, gunpowder is used in weapons. That’s it’s purpose. We use it to kill and destroy. But one day a year we take this weapon, pack it in a cardboard tube with metal shavings and a fuse, and make it into a toy. We beat our swords into ploughshares and make our gunpowder into fireworks.